Show & Tell Tuesday: How to Win Your Heart

Hey hey! 

It's another "Show & Tell Tuesday" link-up today, and today's prompt is: "What Wins Your Heart?"

Okay, so this question sort of stumped me when I first read it last week because I think this has changed over the years. When my husband and I were engaged, we each took the quiz that reveals your "love language." If you haven't taken this quiz before, do it! It reveals SO MUCH about you and your spouse! The five love languages are physical touch, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service, and gifts. So, seven years ago, my love language was physical touch first and words of affirmation second. 

And then we had a son.

And then a daughter.

And there was SO. MUCH. TOUCHING.

I held babies, I held hands, I gave piggy back rides, I wiped snotty noses, and I just got completely OVER the touching. When I finally give the last bedtime kiss to my kiddos, the LAST thing I want is to be touched anymore. I just feel liked I'm touched by small hands ALL. DAY. LONG. so yeah, that love language has kind of died for me.

Sorry, hubby. ;) 

We still cuddle and stuff, but yeah, I usually just want my space. Bless him.

I WILL say, though, that I am ABSOLUTELY still one who responds to words of affirmation. One of my all-time favorite things is when my husband leaves me little notes. If he leaves town early in the morning or we switch cars for the day or something like that, he'll often leave me a little sticky note saying "I love you" or something silly, and it just seriously makes my day. A simple "I like that shirt" or "your hair looks good today" or "thanks for all you do for our family" goes a LOOOOOOONG way with me. 

I have noticed being married for almost six years now that my husband tends to express his love through acts of service, so I am trying (TRYING!) to get better at appreciating that. I haven't washed my car or filled up my own gas tank once in the last four years. (Side story - I actually tried to fill it up myself coming back from a bachelorette party recently, and it was SO weird. Like, I almost didn't know how to do it.) My hubby does the dishes most nights, helps me with the laundry, takes care of the trash cans, and brings me a cup of coffee in bed every morning. I am SO spoiled, you guys. It's not my love language at all, but I'm learning to appreciate it because he's seriously just the most generous and helpful guy ever.

So, that's my heart! I'd love to hear how to win yours!

Also, if you missed my Noonday announcement yesterday, check it out HERE! I'd love you to join me on my journey to help create a better world through style! If you are interested in hosting a trunk show, be sure to let me know! The new line launches in just 16 days...and it is FABULOUS! All proceeds from my Noonday sales will benefit our family's adoption.

Have a great day, friends!  

Show & Tell Tuesday: Momfessional Moments

Ok, so today's little link-up party is all about showing and telling your "momfessional" moments...in other words, this is an opportunity to confess or share secrets related to surviving this whole motherhood thing without losing your ever-loving mind. We can do hard things, y'all...

I did a post of these for Show and Tell Tuesday last year, and you can see that HERE. 

Soooo, let's revisit last year for a moment because not a whole lot of those have changed. I still adore preschool, although I'm teaching it now so it's not quite as much of a "break" as it was last year. I still let my son pee on trees at the park (sorry, not sorry), I still encourage my kids to watch a little TV when I need a break, and I will ALWAYS live by the five-second rule. Like ALWAYS.

The only things that have really changed from the 2015 list are that Kate is very close to dropping her nap (moment of silence, please...), and my son is now smart enough (thanks to said beloved preschool) that he realized the 5 on the Rosa's gumball machine was just part of the 25 cents sign, so he figured out my lie. Thankfully, the gumballs were older than he is, so they both immediately spit them out and realized they were gross when I gave in and let them get one. :) WIN!

Okay, so I came up four more. Here goes...

1) I SECRETLY SMILE WHEN I SPOT OTHER KIDS HAVING MELTDOWNS

Whenever we are at a restaurant or play area and someone else's kid is having a tantrum, I secretly smile and laugh because, FOR ONCE, it's not MY KID doing it. It just somehow makes me feel justified that my kids aren't the only ones who misbehave occasionally in public. Now, before you scold me, I do always give the mom the obligatory half-smile as a show of solidarity, but once we've parted ways, I do smile to myself.

2) YOU TUBE
This isn't super crazy and off the wall, but it's amazing what all I can accomplish when I let my kids watch YouTube on the iPad. I know - it's super scary to just give them free reign on there because the suggested videos can sometimes be downright ICKY. But, it's one of the few times they will watch something together without fighting, and it's pretty cute to hear them laughing together at the same dumb video, too. (As an aside, are my kids the only ones into watching the "surprise egg" videos?!! What the heck are these dumb things, and how did they get so popular?!!)


3) #1 ON MY MY ISH LIST
There are three things that I absolutely DESPISE as a parent, but loved as a kid - Playdoh, stickers, and Legos. The amount of Playdoh I have picked up off of our playroom carpet is absolutely horrifying. I cannot even handle it anymore, so it often "mysteriously" disappears overnight. And I SWEAR, if I have one more piece of furniture in this house ruined by a pirate sticker, I might just flip my lid.

But number one on my ish list HAS to be Legos. Not the duplos - those are tolerable unless stepped on (for the love, those suckers hurt!).  I'm talking about the Legos marked for ages 5 and up. They are tiny, and the toys are rendered completely USELESS if you lose one single microscopic piece, so couple that with the fact that we have a two year old tornado currently residing with us, and it's not pretty, friends. I loathe the little devils.

4) I (OCCASIONALLY) STAGE AFFECTION BETWEEN MY KIDS
Sometimes, I need to pretend that the cute and affectionate moments between my kids are a more frequent occurrence, so yeah, I ask them to hold hands for a picture. Or to give each other hugs just so I can document it. Do I occasionally catch an unprompted hug or sweet moment? Of course...but most are staged. And some end badly. Sigh.

Exhibit A - I think the prompt was, "Give her a kiss on the cheek." Oops.

An unprompted hug. (Insert all the googly eyes.)

Staged. Very staged. What gave it away?!! ;)

   

That's it for today!
Here's the series list if you'd like to join in next time! :)

Show & Tell Tuesday: Introductions and Resolutions

Good morning! So, I've got some new followers on this little blog of mine, so I thought this Show and Tell Tuesday link-up would be a great opportunity for me to introduce myself to some of you who may have found me through Instagram and whatnot and are new here!

I'm Allison. I've been married to my amazing husband Blake for almost six years, and this is where I come to write. I started this blog about a year ago after spending four years or so writing a blog strictly about the lives of our two kids, Carter (4 1/2...the half is very important), and Kate (almost 2 1/2...she already claims the half). 

I started this blog because I wanted a new place where I could feel free to write about more than just kids. I thought I'd write about my faith, recipes, fitness, budgeting, or parenting, and I do from time to time, but 2015 turned out to be a life-changing year for us as we decided to fulfill a lifelong dream and begin the adoption process.

We are now about five months into the process of bringing home a precious baby boy from China and are very close to being done with the paper chose. ALL THE PRAISE HANDS!

I am a born and raised Texas girl who has never called anywhere else home. I graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Speech Communications and a minor in Journalism and then went on to complete my Master's in Education at SMU. I spent a life-changing year teaching precious kiddos in grades K-6 at Genesis Women's Shelter before moving out to Frisco where I taught middle school English for five more years before calling it quits in 2013 to focus on my beautiful babies.

So, that's me in a nutshell. I try to live my life with purpose and gratitude every day. Fifteen years ago, God gave me a second chance at life after I nearly lost it to anorexia. He saved my life through the intervention of an amazing doctor, and I decided in the hospital that if He wants me here, there's a reason. I don't always see His whole picture, but I trust and believe that every day is an opportunity to make an impact on my family and others. He has blessed me, an undeserving hot mess, in so many amazing ways, and I thank Him every day for the life I get to live.

Okay, so let's talk 2016 goals. I kept it short and sweet this year because anytime I make big, sweeping resolutions, I fail miserably. So here's my list: 

1) DATES - This one has been my absolute favorite so far. I want to make a point to spend 1-on-1 time with Carter, Kate, AND my husband this year. As we approach the change from a family of four to a family of five, I want to strengthen my individual relationships. I am completely and utterly convinced that the stronger my individual relationships are with each child, the stronger their sibling bond will be, and the easier this transition will be. It's going to be rocky, but if each child feels special and loved individually FIRST, my prayer is that it will be much smoother and less threatening when we add our second son. So far, I've had a date night with Blake and a movie date with Carter. Next up is girl time! :) 

2) WAKE UP BEFORE KIDS - So far, on January 5th, I've done this every day. YAY! It's a struggle, y'all. I despise mornings, so this is hard, but my outlook on the day is just better. I get my quiet "me" time before taking on the role of mom, I get to begin my day with Jesus, and I just feel better.

3) GRACE - This is my main goal this year. There are changes coming...big ones...and change is HARD. I want to give grace not only to my (almost three) children, but to myself and my husband as well. There will be jet lag, exhaustion, transitions, and we all just need to get through it and know that it'll be worth it in the end.

4) GO GET OUR CHINA BOY! Enough said. :) 

Happy Tuesday, friends! Make it a great day!  

Momfessionals

So, better late than never, right?!! :) Today's Show & Tell Tuesday (or Wednesday...) is all about our momfessionals - a term that basically means our mom confessionals. In other words, how we all survive this NUTTY motherhood thing without LOSING OUR MINDS. 

So, let's go!

1) I HEART PRESCHOOL

After Kate's horrific first year and surviving all of the colic, I was so desperate for a little "me" time this year that I convinced my husband to let me send the kids to two different preschools since she was too young to attend Carter's...and the cherry on top was that I somehow managed to also get him to drop off the little one on the way to work! WHATEVER IT TAKES, people!

 

2) NAP TIME NAZI

I was reading about naps one day in "Baby 411" (a must read for new parents, by the way), and I have lived by the line in the book that says, "Nap time should last at least one hour. What the child chooses to do for that hour is up to him." Let's be honest...naps are more for the parents than the kids. Yes, kids need sleep, blah blah blah. Naps are MY sanity, MY favorite part of the day, and MY time. If one of my kids only slept for 45 minutes at nap time, they sat in their beds for the remaining 15. And I felt absolutely no guilt about it. After all, it was written in a parenting book by a DOCTOR, so it MUST be true. :)

3) TV

Neither of my kids were big fans of television before about 18 months...and as much as I know it was bad for them that young, it made me SO sad! I so desperately wanted to let Elmo or Mickey Mouse babysit for just 30 little minutes a day, and neither of them had interest! I seriously didn't understand what was wrong with them...Carter FINALLY got into shows around two, and Kate is FINALLY beginning to enjoy small chunks of a few shows, and it is a blessed MIRACLE.  I can occasionally shower, cook dinner, clean up, etc without a shadow! :) 

4) FIVE SECOND RULE

Um...how about five minutes (Carter) or five hours (Kate)?!! With Carter, I usually gave it a few minutes...but he was my first child. Second child, I'm so sorry. I occasionally catch Kate walking around the playroom with something in her mouth, and when I ask her what it is, she usually says it is a Cheerio, Goldfish, etc. I will then think through when those snacks were brought upstairs, and as long as it was in the last 24 hours, I usually let her eat it. If you're mad at me reading this in 25 years, Kate, just think about all the immunity you were building at a young age! 

5) THE ROSA'S GUMBALL MACHINE

So, I lie to my kids at times. I lie and tell them the stupidly expensive rides at the mall are broken or that the toy store is closed on Tuesdays or that the ice cream store ran out of M&Ms. It makes it hard for them to argue with me...and that's always a win. One of the places I lie is at Rosa's - our usual Friday night dinner spot. They have a giant gumball machine by the exit that has a sign that says 50 cents on it. For a while, it was meltdown city every time we left the restaurant because Carter wanted a gum ball. Since I am not a big fan of putting my kids' lives in danger with candy they'd choke on, I always said no. It was always ugly. Until about six months ago when I decided to tell Carter that Rosa's had a rule that you had to be at least 5 to get gum. I pointed to the 5 on the machine, and he couldn't argue with the sign. Leaving dinner has been blissful ever since.

 6) MY KID PEES ON TREES

Yeah, I know. It's gross. It's public nakedness. He could probably get a rash. But he's 4, and when he has to go pee, he has to go NOW. So if there's a nearby tree and I can shield him, I let him "water the tree." He tells me his pee has superpowers and that it'll make the tree grow big and strong. And you know what, I tell him that's he's EXACTLY RIGHT. 

While I am certain I could list about a million more of these, those are the top six that come to mind today! This was SUCH a fun topic! Happy Hump Day, everyone!!

Show & Tell Tuesday: Favorite Vacay

Well, I'm linking up again today with Momfessionals and sharing my favorite vacation for Show & Tell Tuesday! This one was super easy for me...my favorite vacay ever was most definitely my honeymoon! 

Blake and I spent 6 glorious...GLORIOUS...nights at the JW Marriott in Guanacaste, Costa Rica after our wedding. It was literally perfection. 

 Best strawberry mojito EVER...that's real sugar cane!

 How cute is my hubby?!! :)

 The sand legitimately looks like this...it's beautiful.

 Lots of lounging...

 Gorgeous sunsets...

 Two of the nights we were there, we took the shuttle from our hotel into the nearby town of Tamarindo and ate at local restaurants. This one was our favorite by FAR - a super cute little place called Nibbana. We actually went here twice. :)

 We did a lot of this...

 ...but we did venture out one day for ziplining!

 Lunch at a cute little spot down the beach we walked to called Lola's.

Take me back!!!!! :)

Show & Tell Tuesday: How We Got Engaged

I'm linking up with Momfessionals again today to share for Show and Tell Tuesdays! I am excited to read today's posts because who doesn't just LOVE a sweet love story?!! This week's topic is on how you met or got engaged to your spouse, and since our story about how we met isn't super exciting (mutual friend at happy hour), I am going to share our engagement today.

The story really begins after just six months of dating when, unbeknownst to me, Blake had asked for my parents' permission to propose in February of 2009. He knew we needed to secure a date with the church WAY in advance because I was a teacher at the time and had to get married during the summer, and on top of that, I wanted to get married at basically the most in-demand church in Dallas, Highland Park United Methodist. So, after a mere six months, my parents gave him their blessing and they secured June 19, 2010 as our wedding date. (Note to future son-in-law...we most likely will NOT give a blessing that quickly. Now thinking as a parent, that was SO fast!)

Flash forward to May, and he went on a family vacation with me and my parents out to LA to visit my brother, Stewart, and his wife, Gillean, for Memorial Day. The trip was going very smoothly, and Blake had decided to propose on Saturday night when we all had reservations at the Chart House, a beautiful restaurant in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean. My parents were in on it, but my brother and sister-in-law were not, and he was planning to surprise them. 

That morning, we took a bike ride through Santa Monica where Stewart decided we should pull a prank on my parents and started devising a plan. Gillean and Stewart are MAJOR schemers and love pulling jokes on people, so as we rode down the bike path, he started convincing me and Blake to have a very serious (and loud) pretend fight and break up at dinner that night. I played along and thought the plan sounded hilarious, but looking back, I remember Blake being very ambivalent and almost irritated at the whole idea of a prank. We concocted a whole story, and I clearly remember Blake simply smiling and nodding...he was clearly NOT excited about this idea. ;)

Throughout the rest of the day, we perfected the plan, and Blake continued to play along, all the while knowing it would never come to fruition because he had an even bigger surprise. As dinner approached, I remember my mom making a BIG deal about what I was going to wear, and we got into an argument because she wanted me to wear heels and I wanted to wear flats. She was ADAMANT that I needed heels, and I remember being so irritated when I caved and then Gillean picked us up in flats. (Girl mom problems!)

As we were getting ready to leave, I remember Blake insisting that he needed a jacket. (It was 75 degrees out...and Blake is NEVER cold.) I remember we got into a little scuffle because I absolutely detested the windbreaker he had brought, and I did NOT want him wearing it to a swanky Malibu restaurant. I ended up reluctantly relenting,although I was quite angry during the drive there, and little did I know, he needed the jacket to hide the ring!

As we arrived at the restaurant, we walked in to check in for our reservation, and Blake immediately asked me to come outside "to take a picture." I told him sure, but that we needed someone to come with us to take it. He insisted we didn't, I protested (I'm stubborn, y'all), and he finally just pulled me outside. Blake had never been to this exact restaurant before, so he didn't really know where he was taking me, but we walked around the side of the building...to a parking lot.

Lucky for Blake, there was a little bench there for the valet customers, so he sat me down there. I kept asking about the picture, and he kept talking about how special the last nine months had been...said a lot of things I don't remember...and then, all of a sudden, there he was, down on a knee. In a parking lot. On a cliff in Malibu.

I don't remember exactly what I said, but Blake swears that my answer to his proposal was, "Duh! Of course!" 

Really?!

 

Who says "Duh!" when they get a proposal for marriage?!!

This girl.

 (My brilliant answer became the theme of a few engagement parties.)

As Blake went to open the box and put the ring on my finger, his hands were shaking so much that it dropped onto the ground. We both absolutely PANICKED because were up on a cliff in the dark with nothing but ocean below us, and we were both convinced it was a goner. Thankfully, Blake has eagle eyes and found it, and as we stood up to kiss, the four valet guys erupted into applause.

We walked back into the restaurant, and to the absolute SHOCK of my brother and his wife, I proudly displayed my gorgeous new ring. The prank died pretty quickly after that, and we spent the rest of the night eating, drinking, and sharing the news with our family and friends.

I could not be more blessed to be married to a man who proposed in a parking lot and almost lost the ring. :) 

 

 

Link up and share your story!